Fighter

Conor McGregor seems once again one of the top choices for lightweight fighters even after he lost his title to Khabib last year. This time, ‘it’s a name knows as the Cowboy who had won a five-round brawl against Al Iaquinta. Doland Cerrone is now out for the Irishman who is set to return to MMA within just a few weeks. He is still finding the ideal way to return after his six months suspension in October 2018, or he is retired, which is unlikely.

McGregor announced his retirement in April, but just a week afterwards, there were already signs that ‘it’s not real. Firstly, Dana White never knew about retirement as McGregor never told him. Its also been revealed that Dana and Conor always talk daily, including how McGregor would make his return to UFC.

Well, now he has the opportunity against a fighter who has been coming up in MMA faster than most. Donald Cerrone just managed his 23rd victory in UFC and was aiming to take on the title holder, but said he would want to fight McGregor is that opportunity ‘doesn’t come available first.

It would be a while before he would have a shot at the title as Dustin Poirier has just won the interim title. Khabib is the real title holder, but he was also suspended in October of last year. However, unlike McGregor, Khabib will only return after 12 months as he joins teammates until they can fight again as well.

Therefore, before Donald can have a shot at the title, Dustin and Khabib must first determine who the actual title holder is. This fight is expected to take place as early as September 2019, but no dates have been set just yet. Once the winner is announced, Donald would need to fight his way through all the other interested contenders before he would have a clear shot for the title.

Other Possible Fighters for the title

Of course, McGregor has been itching for a rematch against Khabib since last year when he lost in the fourth round. Now, he would also want to take on the champion and possibly take back the title.

We also see Tony Ferguson still wanting a fight for the title, who has just returned to the MMA world after having some personal problems. However, he has been cleared to fight and has come back with plans to get his championship fight finally.

There are loads of others wanting a shot at the fight between Dustin and Khabib finally determines a winner, but of those, Tony, McGregor and Doland are the most likely. Therefore, we might see some exciting fights as these contenders take each other on to see how deserves a shot at the title fight.

At this point, there aren’t any plans for such fights just yet, but ‘there’s little doubt that the UFC and Dana White ‘wouldn’t see the opportunities available.

For a moment, it seemed as if Tony Ferguson was out of the 2019 season. The well-known lightweight champion appeared to be having some mental issues, which drove his wife out the house and seeking a restraining order against him. It came out that Tony had never hurt or abused her or their child, but she was concerned for his safety and urged him to seek help. It seems as if Tony took her advice and has now once again been cleared to fight.

Before getting back in the octagon and seeking out some significant events, he decided to change management teams. He used to be part of the well-known Paradigm Sports team who also manage other professional fighters such as Stephen Thompson, Cris Cyborg and even Conor McGregor. He is now signed with Ballengee who has also proven to be a worthy manager with notable names such as Vitor Belfort, Eddie Alvarez and Aljamain Sterling forming part of the team. Surprisingly, Tony received a warm send-off from the former management team with the SEO wishing him well in the events to come.

Fighting Opportunities for Tony

The fans are already going wild as Tony made a post on Twitter that told everyone he already received a fight invite for a significant event. He also added that it’s “champ shit only” from now on. However, as we all know, the next title fight takes place when Khabib returns, which is still a few months away. Therefore, we expect to see Tony take on Conor McGregor.

Both of these fighters are hoping to take part in another title fight shortly, making it the perfect matchup before the title fight takes place between Dustin Poirier and Khabib. Whoever managed to win the battle will get to take on the winner in the “unknown” primary event fight that involves Tony.

When Khabib got suspended after the craze at UFC 229 in October last year, Tony was offered the interim title fight first. He would’ve faced up against Max Holloway, and the odds would have been in his favour. This would have been the best way to ensure he gets the title fight against Khabib, but Tony declined the fight. He said he wants a title fight and nothing less. Now, with Tony getting back in action under a new management team, we might see some fantastic events coming up. Tony will almost certainly take part in some title event, whether it’s against Khabib or Dustin.

He now seems more determined than ever, giving fans more reason to stand behind him and show support as he moves up to finally claim the title he has been after for so long. We expect to see significant events involving Tony later in 2019, giving us all great reasons to keep an eye on the odds and place some major bets!

Since the 2018 fight against Khabib, we haven’t seen much of McGregor in terms of fighting and even before the UFC 229 event, he didn’t exactly take part in loads of fighting events.

Sure, he has been the focus on news over the last couple of months, but it almost seems as if he doesn’t have the same passion for MMA fighting as he did a few years ago.

Reasons

One of the main reasons McGregor isn’t seen at the moment is because of a 6-month suspension. It was handed down by the Nevada Athletic Commission for his part in the brawl that took place at UFC 229 back in October of 2018.

It was actually Khabib who started the whole thing after winning the fight against McGregor in the fourth round. Khabib had a few words with a trailing partner on McGregor’s team right after the fight, which resulted in the title holder jumping over the cage, into the crowd and attacking.

Naturally, McGregor jumped in as well, trying to defend his team, but due to the magnitude of the actions, both fighters were immediately suspended. The hearing only took place in January 2019 where McGregor was fined $50,000 and suspended for 6 months.

Now with the suspension almost done, we see McGregor saying that he is once again retiring. He made a post on social media to announce the news. With further investigation, it seems as if the retirement post came after he was offered a co-main event later this year, which he declined as he wants shares in UFC, which hasn’t been given to him. McGregor said he will do the event if he gets shares, which was clearly declined, resulting in him retiring early.

He has also been incredibly busy with the launch of his whiskey. He also has a young family, giving him more than enough reason to step back from the fighting and focus more on personal things.

Retirement Not Confirmed

Conor has made retirement threats in the past, which didn’t last and he came back to fight multiple times after the 2016 post on social media. Now, in 2019, we once again have reason to believe that McGregor will be seen in the octagon once again.

One of the biggest reasons was revealed in an interview with UFC boss Dana White who said McGregor hasn’t told him anything about the retirement and to his knowledge the Irishman will be taking part in fighting events later in 2019.

Dana White also confirmed that he has been talking to McGregor almost daily and commonly talks to McGregor about the way he would make a come back into the octagon after his suspension. Therefore, we have reason to believe that the suspension is another way for McGregor to take control for the time being, but we doubt that the suspension will be a permanent thing.

In the recent main event at UFC 236, Dustin Poirier managed to claim the interim lightweight title by beating Max Holloway in the fifth round.

Sunday last week, we saw the two determined fighters enter the octagon to fight for the interim title as a result of Khabib’s suspension due to a post-fight brawl in 2018 at UFC 229. The rightful title holder was suspended for only nine months but decided to extend it until his teammates are allowed to fight again, meaning he won’t fight for 12 months.

However, we expect to see Khabib take back to the octagon by the end of 2019, which means he will step into a fight with Dustin to determine who gets to keep the lightweight title.

There are also many other fighters lining up to complete against Khabib in when he returns, including Dustin Gaethje, Conor McGregor and possibly Tony Ferguson. However, all of them would have to wait as the current title holder Dustin Poirier now has priority.

Dana White confirmed the fight following the title victory on Sunday, stating that Khabib and Dustin will be the next to fight for the title. He also mentioned that the event is most likely to take place in September of 2019, but it has not been confirmed as well. We expect to see Khabib return around September, making this the first fight he walks into as he is welcomed back.

Unlike Khabib, Poirier didn’t manage to get up in MMA quite as fast, but he did have a promising career ahead of him from the very start. After his first four wins, he seemed to have hit the brakes though, which he then decided to make a career move and join the lightweight category in 2015.

It might have taken his 22 fights to make his way to a title fight, but there’s no doubt that Poirier has what it takes to defend the title. Even Dana White says he shouldn’t be criticised for how long it took and as we all know, Dustin has been a victim of the media.

Now, with the interim title, he has the first choice to take on Khabib and finally claim this way to become a fighter he is meant to be seen as. When you look at all the details, Dustin should consider himself lucky for the opportunity as Toiny Ferguson was the first choice for the title fight. However, Tony turned down the offer as he wants nothing less than a full title fight against Khabib.

While the fight against Max Holloway would’ve given him just that, We saw Tony decline the offer, thinking he would be one of the fighters lining up to take on Khabib when he returns. However, it’s unlikely for Tony to take part now as he has been dealing with personal issues and hasn’t been involved with UFC as much.

Somehow the lightweight division of the UFC appears in the news more often than just about any other. Not only do we see multiple news updates about Conor Mcgregor and his recent retirement announcement, but there is also news about Tony Ferguson who has been dealing with personal problems and has not been involved with UFC fighting much in 2019.

These are concerning matters as both Conor and Tony play a significant role in the lightweight division. With that said, don’t underestimate the other fighters as there are still loads of action to look forward to. However, for those who try to stay up to date on the latest news, here’s a quick and easy post about both Tony and Conor that’s ideal for getting up to date.

Tony Ferguson

Since the beginning of 2019, it seems as if Tony has been dealing with various personal problems, including a restraining order against him from his wife who has moved out just a few weeks ago along with their 2-year-old son.

Before anyone jumps to conclusions, it does not seem like there are problems in the marriage, but more of a safety concern. In February 2019, Cristina Ferguson made a call to police, saying that Tony is breaking things in the house and has gone as far as breaking the fireplace. She did not want police to respond as she was concerned for their safety.

Parleys responded anyway, sending out a total of six units which couldn’t do much as there was no criminal activity. The call was made from Cristina’s mother’s house as she had already moved out. Tony had collected their son and had also changed all the locks in the house.

She has made it clear that she is not concerned about the safety of her son or herself, but rather the safety of her husband. Police also recommended visiting the doctor, to which Tony agreed. There is also an ongoing investigation regarding domestic violence. For now, with these matters at hand, we don’t expect to see Tony in the octagon any time soon.

Conor McGregor

The Irishman remains a favourite subject for UFC news throughout the beginning of 2019. If he isn’t be charged with assault when breaking a fan’s phone for trying to take a photo, the UFC champion manages to find other ways to keep himself in the news, including the announcement of his retirement.

Just over a week ago, Conor posted a Tweet to say he is retiring. At the time, it made sense when you consider his lucrative whiskey business, and he has had an incredible record up to now in UFC. However, it later came about that the retirement might help just a treat towards the UFC who refuse to give Conor shares in the company for him to take part as a co-main event in July. There are also many other posts that give us reason to believe he will be back, but up to now, the retirement stands.

If you’ve heard of either Iranian Hulk of Martyn Ford, you’ll know these are two of the most prominent fighters in MMA. Put these two in an octagon, and you’re bound to see a massive fight, unlike anything you’ve experienced before.

Well, in 2019, we might see the biggest fight of them all. Not because of marketing or a money fight, but instead with two of the most prominent MMA fighters stepping up for taking each other on.

It’s been said that these two massive fighters would be taking each other on later this year, which can only be described as a freak MMA fight. Martyn Ford is known as “The Scariest Man on the Planet” who weighs in at 143 Kg and stands at over two meters tall. The Iranian Hulk packs more weight at 178kg and is just a bit shorter at 1.85 meters.

Ford used to be a cricketer and rather skinny before he turned to bodybuilding on a whole new scale. An injury in cricket was the turning point for the massive man who has now found himself in films such as Final Score, which was released in 2018.

Now, a signed contract with Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a Polish organisation. He finds himself tapping into MMA to become one of the most critical fighters we have seen. After signing, Ford expressed his love for MMA and is looking forward to using his skills on the cage.

Up to now, he doesn’t have any professional fighting experience, but with his massive size and training, we might see a rookie take on other massive fighters and come out on top! That’s certainly what his 1.5 million followers are hoping for.

He also added a post on Instagram, further expressing how excited he is about the new adventure with KSW. He also tells fans about the tough training and that he is ready to take it all on and succeed.

Iranian Hulk, also known as Sajad Gharibi has become an overnight success as he is compared to the famous green muscle monster from the Marvel comics. He already has over 400,000 followers on popular social platforms who tune in often to see how the massive man lives and what he does daily.

He has dreams of joining the fight against IS by joining the Iranian Armed forces as he has a passion for his country and would like to defend it. However, with the new MMA opportunities, we might see him take on the octagon first, for which he would also need loads of training to get ready

Both these giants have been working hard on getting themselves prepared for the fight taking place later this year. Being an action-packed moment in the cage is sure. Would either of them manage a KO? Would it go through multiple rounds or would it be a boring fight that doesn’t reveal much to look at?